BACKGROUND: Onboarding of junior staff in the intensive care unit is vital to ensure high-quality critical care treatment. This process depends on beginner's training.

AIM: We aimed to determine structure and duration of intensive care onboarding and the job satisfaction of junior professionals in German intensive care units.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted an anonymous, interprofessional online survey regarding quality of onboarding and job satisfaction among young professionals.

RESULTS: A total of 554 young professionals participated, about two thirds were physicians. A written concept was used in 59% of the nurse's and 27% of physicians' training. Median duration of training before taking full charge of patient treatment was 30 days among nurses and 7 days among physicians. About one third of nurses and 17% of physicians stated that they were sufficiently prepared after the training period, whereby 49% of physicians often felt overwhelmed. More than 42% can imagine working in critical care longer than the next 3 years.

CONCLUSION: Fundamental methods for training of critical care professionals starting their intensive care career are underused in Germany and the duration of training blatantly differs from national guideline recommendations. Although there seem to be deficits concerning material and staff resources, participants are satisfied with learning progress and teamwork.